Long Beach politics heating up for June 2012 ballot

While the most watched election race this year in Los Angeles County may be the battle between two sitting members of Congress, Long Beach area residents will have many candidates to choose from in several other hotly contested races.

That marquee race is between two Democrats - Rep. Janice Hahn and longtime Long Beach Rep. Laura Richardson, a former City Council member, for the newly formed 44th Congressional District, which encompasses North Long Beach, San Pedro, Wilmington, the Port of Los Angeles, Carson, South Gate, Lynwood and Compton.

As Richardson's old district disappeared under last year's redistricting process and she chose to shift her political territory west, that has opened up what may become a tooth-and-nail fight for the new Long Beach-centered 47th Congressional District.

The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder posted the final candidate filings for all state and congressional elections late Friday. The candidates still must be certified by the secretary of state later this month.

All candidates running for congressional and legislative offices will appear on a single ballot June 5, under the terms of Proposition 14. The top two candidates, regardless of party, will advance to the general election in November.

That means Long Beach's 47th could end up with two Democrats on the ballot in the November election. That fight began long before Friday's filing deadline.

According to the Registrar-Recorder, as expected, state Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, will vie for the seat with two well-known Republicans in June. Long Beach Councilman Gary DeLong and former Congressman Steve Kuykendall both filed as candidates.

Democrat Peter Mathews, a college professor and Long Beach resident who has run for Richardson's seat three times, is a candidate as well.

Also running are lesser known candidates Sanford Kahn, a small business owner and Republican from Long Beach, and Democrats Usha Shah, a community volunteer, and Jay Shah, a retired physician who ran against County Supervisor Don Knabe in 2004 and 2008 and against Rep. Dana Rohrabacher in 2010. Strangely, the Shahs of Long Beach are husband and wife, according to Jay Shah's campaign website.

-- 40th Congressional District (parts of Paramount, Bellflower and Downey and stretching to East Los Angeles and Huntington Park) - Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Downey, and Democrat David Sanchez, a Los Angeles college instructor.

-- 33rd state Senate District (Most of Long Beach and Signal Hill, stretching through Lakewood, Paramount and as far north as Vernon) - Assemblyman Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, is unchallenged.

-- 70th Assembly District (most of Long Beach, Signal Hill and San Pedro) - Republican Martha Flores-Gibson, a Long Beach teacher and business owner, and Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, D-Long Beach. Flores-Gibson also challenged Lowenthal in 2010.

-- 63rd Assembly District (Hawaiian Gardens, Lakewood, Paramount, Lynwood) - Democrats Diane Martinez, a Paramount City Council member and teacher, and Anthony Rendon, a Lakewood educator and non-profit group director.